Because being healthy should be fun.

Zucchini Mushroom Burgers

There was a time- a time before I started consciously trying to eat healthfully- that I was a vegetarian.

It was during high school, and I decided that meat was not my thing.

This decision was highly disturbing to my parents, especially my dad, as both were raised (and had raised my sister and me) on almost any kind of meat that could be found. My dad willingly eats liver and my mom dreams about the klub (Scandinavian blood sausage) of her childhood.

My fourteen-year-old self decided it was high time to publicly proclaim my separation from these yucky things. (To be fair, we mostly just ate beef and chicken. But still.)

Of course, becoming a vegetarian at the same age as a person could plausibly be expected to cook a full meal meant that my dad often told me, “I don’t know what to make you. YOU make dinner.”

Fine.

Maybe I will.

…but what?

It was at that time that I discovered the joy of homemade veggie burgers. One of my stand-by cookbooks had a wheat germ burger made with zucchini and mushrooms and it quickly became a favorite- not just of mine, but of my whole family’s.

Of course, these days I’m cheap and don’t have such things as wheat germ often laying around. So I made some changes, added some spices, and came up with these beauties.

1. Grate zucchini (you should get about 3 cups worth) and onion with a box grater or with a food processor attachment.
2. Using a paper towel or cheesecloth, squeeze excess moisture out of zucchini and place in a bowl with onion, mushrooms, eggs, cheese, breadcrumbs and spices.
3. Form mixture into 5 patties, about 3/4 inch thick.
4. Spray a skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Carefully place burgers in skillet and fry, flipping once, until golden, about 3 minutes per side.
5. Serve with condiments of choice on a roll.

I served these simply back in the day and that’s how I serve them now. Some ketchup, a pickle.

Even though I’ve re-embraced my carnivorous ways, I still love these burgers of my past.

I went through a phase when I was a tween where I proclaimed I wouldn’t eat anything that had eyes. It lasted for about a month or two. But I still don’t really like meat all that much, and definitely prefer veggie burgers over carnivorous ones. I’m totally making these.

These sound SO good. I went through a vegetarian stage also, but my parents pretty much refused to allow it, so there was a lot of arguing involved. Now, I only eat meat if someone else cooks it for me. So I guess that means I pretty much never eat meat. It’s too expensive, and I’m too worried about salmonella.

Hangin with Mr. Cooper and veggie burgers = this is why we are friends. These look damn tasty – and much healthier than all of the take-out food I’ve been shoveling in my mouth the past two weeks. But when I make them I’m totally topping them with spicy mayo. You’ve created a monster.